Vehicle coolant pumps, generally called water pumps, separates a pump shaft bearing from a hot, coolant containing housing with a rotating coolant seal. The seal is inevitably subject to some small leakage, and a vent hole is provided between the coolant seal and the pump shaft bearing to allow the leaked coolant to exit before reaching the bearing. While this controlled leakage is expected and harmless to the pump operation, it can, by dripping on the engine block or garage floor, cause an aesthetic problem, or even suggest a seal failure that has not occurred in fact.
In response, various designs have been proposed for drip collectors that temporarily retain the leakage until it can evaporate, thereby preventing any visible dripping. One type of water pump currently used by the assignee of the subject invention has a cylindrical outer bearing race that protrudes axially outwardly from the front face of the pump housing, with a vent hole in the race axially spaced from the pump housing face. A drip collector for such a pump can take the basic form of an annular channel inserted over the bearing race and vent hole. Leaking coolant collects and puddles at the bottom of the channel, evaporating over time. One example of such a design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,316 to Diem et al. One shortcoming of the design shown there is that a vehicle disturbance such as a bump may cause some collected coolant to splash out of the collector.